Centennial Coach likes America’s chances against Ghana in World Cup

Centennial soccer Coach Sandy Pollock has had a lot of fun watching the World Cup the past two weeks even though his native team, Scotland, didn’t make it to South Africa.

“I grew up in Scotland,” Pollock said. “Soccer is huge back home, just like any other country outside the U.S. When I was growing up, Scotland qualified for the World Cup almost every time. Things have changed, obviously, but back in the ’70s and ’80s Scotland was a fixture in the World Cup.”

Defending champion Italy beat Scotland by one goal during qualifying, denying the Scots a berth in the World Cup.

Pollock moved to the U.S. when he was 26 “for adventure and work,” living in Atlanta initially.

Pollock, who also coaches travel teams, said the excitement over the U.S. team advancing to the round of 16 will help soccer in America.

“When the U.S. men’s team does well there’s a lot of publicity and it helps the youth game and hopefully helps the professional game as well,” Pollock said. “When you’ve got players like Landon Donovan on the world scene, being the leader that he is, it helps the game.”

Pollock is optimistic about the Unites States’ chances in Saturday’s game against Ghana.

“The U.S. is such a good team and when I say that there are a lot of good teams at the World Cup that are just not playing as teams,” Pollock said. “And that’s one thing the U.S. has got going for them — they’re a completely close-knit unit, they play for each other and it shows they’re very much a team and that’s what’s giving them the success, in my opinion, so far.”

And Pollock’s prediction?

“I’ll predict the U.S. wins 2-1,” said Pollock, who also predicts England will beat Germany in a big game on Sunday.